SUPER ALASKA CRUISE
C. Rating the Norwegian Wind
The Norwegian Wind is a great ship for enjoying the sights and experiences of the inside passage of Alaska.
Outside viewing.
The Norwegian Wind has the best exterior decks for viewing the scenery of Alaska of any cruise ship sailing the area. The Promenade deck (level 7) is completely open to the sea (with a railing of course) so that it feels as if you are sailing on a Mississippi paddle wheel steamer. The rear part of the promenade deck also is completely open which makes it a nice place to pull up a beach chair and watch the scenery go past, even if it is rainy and cold (frequently occurs in Alaska, especially when viewing glaciers). In addition, there is another rear covered (but open) area on deck 8 for watching sights from the rear that very few passengers seemed to know about. It also has beach chairs. Also, in the rear, by the Sports Bar, there are outside tables (protected from the elements with a roof) with unobstructed views to the rear of the ship. The Norwegian Wind has more forward open viewing decks than other ships. Besides the bow level area on the Promenade deck, there are open, partially covered areas in the front of decks 8, 9, 10 and 11 as well as a completely exposed area on the forward part of deck 13. There are also completely open areas with lots of railing space for nice weather viewing on the roof (decks 12 and 13) and the rear of the ship (decks 9, 10 and 12). Note, if it is very cold out, you can get blankets, to cover you while sitting on beach chairs, behind the hot tubs on deck 12.
Inside viewing.
The Norwegian Wind also is a great ship for viewing scenery from inside the ship. The Norwegian Wind has its dining rooms on upper levels with large panoramic windows, unlike other ships, which put dining rooms and other public spaces on lower decks so they can sell more high priced balcony cabins. One dining room has large floor to ceiling bay windows (distinctive feature visible from outside of the ship) and is terraced so all tables have views, while the other dining rooms are more steeply terraced and have even bigger windows that give all tables unobstructed views to the back of the ship. The lounges on the 10th and 11th floor, as well as the sports bar (snack bar), have nice big windows. The theater (stardust lounge) also has floor to ceiling windows (shades open during the day), as do the conference rooms. The best location for viewing Alaskan scenery indoors while sailing is in the Observatory Lounge on the 12th floor. This room has panoramic windows that give a 180-degree view outside, an outside deck does not block it, and it does not have a casino like the observatory area of other ships. Finally, the lobby area on deck 7 also has panoramic windows for good inside viewing.
Ship Condition
The Norwegian Wind is an especially clean boat that receives constant preventive maintenance. The cleaning personnel are constantly cleaning and scrubbing the inside and outside areas of the ship, often climbing up ladders to get to inaccessible areas. Every day there was some area being painted or (wood areas) stripped and revarnished. In each port, dock machinery was used to paint and clean the side of the ship facing the dock, as well as to clean windows. I also noted that when an exterior deck was being mopped, the personnel were very careful to pour the soapy water down the drains leading to the ships holding tanks, rather than overboard. Functionally everything on the ship operated, no lights were burned out, no chairs were broken or stained, no elevators were out of service, and no public bathrooms were stuffed up. Also, there were no sewage smells, a difficult thing to prevent on ships were over 2000 persons are living.
Room
The public areas on the Norwegian Wind are more than adequate for the passenger load. There were always seats available in the lounges and the theater, seating was always available during open seating in the dining rooms, and space was always available for outside viewing like at Glacier Bay. I never had the indication that I was sailing on a ship with over 2300 passengers and crewmembers.
Smelling or breathing others’ tobacco odors or smoke can ruin a vacation. Especially when you cannot change rooms because boat is full (cruise ships run at full capacity, running specials if there are empty cabins a few days before sailing). Experiencing second hand smoke or smelling the remnants of other persons smoking experiences is not a problem on the Norwegian Wind. All rooms on the port (left) side of the ship are always non-smoking so you do not smell smoke wafting out of adjacent rooms, and your furniture and bedding do not have the cheap hotel smell that some hotels have when they change the designation of rooms. In addition, smoking is not allowed in any dining rooms, the theater, the lobby, the corridors, and the athletic areas. In the few inside public areas where smoking is allowed, (Observatory lounge [Observatory Lounge-only starboard side], the casino, and some bar/lounge areas, the smoking areas are clearly delineated and separated by walls or a large space without tables, to keep smoke away from others. Finally, it appeared that the European customers that were marketed by NCL were mostly from Britain, where smoking is less common and not socially acceptable. I did not meet any passengers from Mediterranean countries like Italy or France where heavy smoking is prevalent. Thus the outside areas were also smoke free.
Athletic Facilities
The Norwegian Wind has very good athletic facilities. It has two gym rooms, each with floor to ceiling exterior windows. One room has at least 4 treadmills, some cycles, some stepping machines, and mats. The other room has universal type machines, exercise benches, and free weights (lots of plastic coated light weights, as well as heavier weights). All equipment was nearly new. There was also several exercise classes given each day at varying fitness levels (varied from heavy duty step aerobics to seated aerobics for older persons). Facilities also included a basketball court, a putting net, and people used the promenade deck for jogging. For after exercising, there are two hot tubs, and, I was told, steam and sauna rooms.
Food
The food was fine and no one got food poisoning. Every meal had an option of a fresh fruit appetizer, a salad and light and vegetarian entrees. Since the days in Alaska are very long, even diners at the late dinner seating get to experience the beauty of Alaska while eating. Lunches and dinners while in port and all breakfasts are open seating. Open seating means that you can come into any dining room when it is open and will be assigned an open table. Note: in order to get better service, try to sit where your personal waiter is serving, you will get better service since the waiters are not tipped separately for these open meals. Lunches and dinners at sea are assigned seating. This means that you will sit at the same table with the same waiter and bus boy each night at one of two seating times. (Note: you can get your table changed easily by asking the dining room manager after the meal). There is a tiny restaurant (Le Bistro), which I did not eat at, but I was told that the menu does not change there from night to night. Other food resources include the Sports Bar where coffee/tea/juice is available 24 hrs and simpler meals (rolls/cheese/cereal/fruit-breakfast, salads/burgers-lunch/dinner) can be eaten around meal times. Pizza/salads are served at meal times in the Pizzeria. The Ice Cream Bar serves ice cream and sherbet. Some days there are barbeques on the tip deck, one of the barbeques was a salmon barbeque. In the early evening sushi is served in the Observatory lounge. Finally from 11:30 to 12:30 there is either a buffet in one of the dining rooms or appetizers served in the lounges.
Shows
Each night there was a show in the theater. There were two seatings in the theater corresponding to the dinner seatings. On the days the boat visited ports, a comedian performed. On other nights there was a performance by an acting company that danced and sang. One member of this acting company was a former Olympic gymnast (Lance something) and several times in between shows there would be an announcement “and now presenting the star of our show, former Olympic team member Lance ??”, he would then run out and do some flips and hand stands, run back to the side, and the singing and dancing would resume (it seamed pretty lame). Since on the Alaskan cruises, passengers awake early and are usually are busy all day on excursions, sightseeing or shopping, no one cared if the shows were not good, since that is not they were on the trip to see.
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